Events – Dedman College of Humanities and Scienceshttp://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:36:58 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4http://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege/files/2016/01/cropped-blogid-32x32.jpgEvents – Dedman College of Humanities and Scienceshttp://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege
3232LISTEN: What Pandemics Of The Past Can Teach Us About This Year’s Flu Outbreakhttp://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege/2018/02/21/listen-pandemics-past-can-teach-us-years-flu-outbreak/
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:05:21 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege/?p=5818KERA Originally Posted: February 21, 2018 This flu season is making regular headlines, especially in North Texas, where more than 100 people have died. It doesn't compare to the flu crisis the world endured a century ago, but we can still learn from it. Some experts estimate about one-third of the world's population came down [...]

This flu season is making regular headlines, especially in North Texas, where more than 100 people have died. It doesn’t compare to the flu crisis the world endured a century ago, but we can still learn from it.

Some experts estimate about one-third of the world’s population came down with the flu in 1918, and from 50 to 100 million people died.

Carolyn Smith-Morris, a medical anthropologist at Southern Methodist University, said people were living in fear and panic during this time.

“What we saw then is, in my work, something that we’re likely to see [again] should we have a pandemic today,” she said. “There are many differences from 1918, but the similarities are in the social reactions — how humans deal with fear.”

Smith-Morris will give a lecture on Thursday on the 1918 flu pandemic and the similarities it has with the Ebola outbreak Dallas experienced just a few years ago. (Learn more about the lecture here. Reservations are requested.) LISTEN

When the flu broke out in any given area, it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was when these massive movements of people around the world started showing; cities being decimated by fast-moving infections that this panic set in. This was a function, of course, of World War I. We saw enormous numbers of young, healthy people moving around the globe, and yet they were coming down with this deadly disease. So it was that movement of people, the close proximity, the crowding, and these were the things that people were seeing and thinking — not so much about crowds at the time — but young people falling victim quickly to this new epidemic.

On the similarities between Ebola in Dallas in 2014 and the Flu Pandemic of 1918:

We don’t have great treatments or a vaccine for Ebola. So it was a good opportunity to see how people respond to epidemic threats. Now, we have robust public health infrastructure. Given all the things that have changed since 1918, we wanted to see what might still be the same.

We interviewed residents in two different neighborhood in Dallas, each of which had one of the victims of Ebola. Since Ebola was an infectious disease and proximity to a victim would likely be perceived as a threat, we thought that these neighborhoods would be stigmatized evenly or similarly. And what we found was that people who had moved to the U.S. or to Dallas years ago, even a decade, were feeling threatened in their jobs. They would hide their identity and their accent, and they were feeling worried over, or even scared from, the 24-hour television vans and photographers who were parked outside.

Just like in 1918, this is an important reminder about how humans make sense of threats. We still stigmatize others, we still see risk in the same ways we did in 1918 through some sweeping generalizations.

On the fight-or-flight response to pandemics:

Fight-or-flight is something that we were evolved to do. It is a biochemical event. Fear is a real and biochemical and health event that we must acknowledge; we can’t just talk people out of it. Until we have a perfect health world, we will not have perfectly calm people. We also won’t have perfectly informed people. We won’t have perfect access to care.

]]>Sign Up to Judge at Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fairhttp://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege/2018/02/16/sign-judge-dallas-regional-science-engineering-fair/
Fri, 16 Feb 2018 17:41:06 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege/?p=5807Calling all SMU Science faculty, staff and graduate students! Do you remember competing in Science Fair when you were at school? Now is your chance to sign up to judge at the 2018 Beal Bank Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair, Saturday February 24, 2018 at Fair Park in Dallas. SMU is organizing this event [...]

]]>Calling all SMU Science faculty, staff and graduate students! Do you remember competing in Science Fair when you were at school? Now is your chance to sign up to judge at the 2018 Beal Bank Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair, Saturday February 24, 2018 at Fair Park in Dallas. SMU is organizing this event for middle and high school students in Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. The eligibility requirements for judging are a Bachelor’s degree or beyond in the category you judge. Family members, teachers and mentors of participating students are not eligible to judge.

SMU English professor Ezra Greenspan discusses Frederick Douglass’ life, views and work as an abolitionist Feb. 6 on NE Campus. Photo by Ian Stover/The CollegianA local expert on abolitionist Frederick Douglass offered a Black History Month lecture to students Feb. 6 on NE Campus.

Ezra Greenspan, an English professor at Southern Methodist University, is working on a biography of the renowned abolitionist and human rights activist.

His lecture told of Douglass’ journey from slave to abolitionist. It also drew some parallels between Douglass’ world to that of disenfranchised people today.

Greenspan contended that the inequities Douglass tried to eradicate managed to outlive him. And Greenspan challenged students to “inquire more searchingly, what the legacy of this great African-American means to us in our time.”

“That sentiment underlay the question that the entire talk was designed to lay at the feet of your generation,” Greenspan said. “As you undoubtedly noticed, I came with serious intentions. These are not easy times to grow up in, but your generation, in my opinion, has no alternative but to make the best you can of them — and perhaps improve the society you live in.’’

Citing Douglass’ 1869 speech, “Our Composite Nationality,’’ Greenspan said Douglass made important points that are still relevant. In particular, Greenspan said Douglass contended that basic human rights and opportunities should be guaranteed to all. In Douglass’ view, those basic human rights included the right to migrate, not unlike today’s political battles over immigration.

Greenspan said the title of his lecture, “Frederick Douglass at 200 Still Doing ‘An Amazing Job,’” was a reference to a comment about Douglass by President Donald Trump.

During a Black History Month event last year, some eyebrows were raised when the president said Douglass “has done an amazing job’’ that is gaining recognition. Some critics questioned whether Trump was aware that Douglass was a 19th century abolitionist. Greenspan said social change is still in order. Racial divisions still exist, immigration policy still threatens the livelihood of residents, and political leaders use divisive rhetoric.

The NE history department invited Greenspan to speak, but his message did not focus solely on the past. He also encouraged students to model Douglass, who educated himself before becoming an author and public speaker. READ MORE

The SMU Tower Center and Clements Center for Southwestern Studies are holding a two-day international conference Feb. 15-16 to dissect global migration with support from the Center for Presidential History and the Cox School of Business. The conference features migration experts from all over the world separated into different panels. LEARN MORE

Feb. 22, at the Gene and Jerry Jones Great Hall in SMU’s Meadows Museum

Scientists have learned much about the flu since the 1918 flu pandemic that killed an estimated 50 to 100 million people worldwide, says SMU medical anthropologist Carolyn Smith-Morris: “We have a strong arsenal – medicinal, mechanical and social – against infectious disease and its ravages. But as historians of this epidemic are fond of saying, we would be wise to remain cautious.”

Smith-Morris will present a free public lecture, “The 1918 Flu Epidemic: A 2018 Perspective,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Gene and Jerry Jones Great Hall in SMU’s Meadows Museum, 5900 Bishop Blvd. A 5:15 p.m. reception will precede the event and reservations are requested at https://godbey2018_2.eventbrite.com

In 1918, with many suffering from the flu at the same, the most basic public services were crippled or even closed – including transportation, waste management and emergency rooms. Normal societal activities began to collapse, Smith-Morris says, and patients relied on family and friends for their care.

“If a new infectious tragedy of that scale were to hit America soon, one might wonder what our social and volunteer force would look like,” Smith-Morris says. “More recent outbreaks, including the 2014 Ebola cases in Dallas, remind us that the way we relate socially and communicatively with each other has changed dramatically in 100 years. Stereotyping and public fear are fanned by a public addicted to 24-hour, entertainment-style ‘news’ shows and online optimization for sales and hits, rather than for public health information.”

However, another pandemic flu like the one in 1918 is unlikely, Smith-Morris says. Since 1918, scientists have discovered antibiotics, developed vaccines for a variety of infectious diseases, including the first for flu in 1945, and made both chemical and mechanical advances in the control of infectious agents.

Smith-Morris is SMU associate professor of anthropology. Her lecture is part of the Godbey Anniversary Lecture Series, sponsored by the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute. READ MORE

]]>SMU Debate Wins Texas State Championshiphttp://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege/2018/02/09/smu-debate-wins-texas-state-championship/
Fri, 09 Feb 2018 16:11:10 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/dedmancollege/?p=5769Meadows News Originally Posted: Feb. 6, 2018 Congrats to the SMU debate team and specifically to Dedman College team members: Maggie Cook-Allen (B.A. Political Science, B.A. Philosophy ’21), Mark “Chip” Myers (B.A. History ’21), and Darcy Wyatt (B.S. Biochemistry ’21). Below is an excerpt from Meadows School of the Arts news: The team may have been small, [...]

Over the February 3-4 weekend, four members of the SMU Debate team traveled to Bryan, Texas, for the Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association (TIFA) state championships at Blinn College. Competing against 13 other Texas universities and colleges, they took home top speaker, top scoring school, top novice debater and more in the International Public Debate Association (IPDA) division. The accolades continue a long winning streak for the team.

The tournament featured three types of debate: Parliamentary, Lincoln Douglas and IPDA. SMU competed exclusively in the IPDA-format events.

Here are the highlights:

Matthew Lucci (B.S. Mechanical Engineering ’18) won top speaker and was undefeated through all seven rounds of debate.

After winning their semifinal debates, Lucci and Maggie Cook-Allen (B.A. Political Science, B.A. Philosophy ’21) closed out the final round of the tournament. (To still be competing in the final round is viewed by forensics coaches as an indication of a school’s dominant strength.)

SMU had three of the top eight debaters in the quarterfinals, more than any other school at the tournament.

Lucci and Cook-Allen defeated rivals from Texas A&M and Tyler Junior College to claim first and second place for SMU in the open division tournament. “Open division” is open to varsity, junior varsity or novice competitors. The four SMU debaters are junior varsity or novice.

Mark “Chip” Myers (B.A. History ’21) won top novice IPDA debater.

SMU took first place in the IPDA sweepstakes awards, followed by Tyler Junior College in second and Texas A&M in third.

In addition to placing first in the state in the category of International Public Debate, SMU placed fifth in overall speech and debate awards.

Darcy Wyatt (B.S. Biochemistry ’21) was the 8th-rated debater in the state of Texas in IPDA.

“The best part of being on the SMU Debate team is having the opportunity to engage in intellectual development while in a competitive environment with some of the greatest friends and teammates imaginable,” says Lucci, who also serves as the team’s vice president of operations and finance. In addition, Lucci serves as speaker for the SMU Student Senate; president of the SMU College Democrats; and chairman of the SMU Student Leadership Historical Commission.

Cook-Allen also speaks highly of the team and its camaraderie. “The best part of being on SMU debate is the wonderful family I get to be a part of,” she says. “It’s an honor to compete alongside such inspired and motivated people.” Colleague Myers adds, “The best part is being able to support my friends, as well as being able to better my speaking skills.” Wyatt points to the motivational aspect of being on the team. “We push each other to grow in our knowledge and capabilities, not only in debate, but in our daily lives,” she says. “We can have intellectual discussions well into the night, and we are always looking for ways to hone our analytical and critical thinking skills. We like to think we are a family; we definitely argue like one!”

Efforts made by the team are especially important to America’s political discourse, says Debate Director Dr. Ben Voth, associate professor in SMU Meadows’ Division of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs. “Students and the University can experience these important successes at a time when our society struggles to engage in civil conversations,” he says. “Debate is one of our best pedagogical tools for teaching civility and critical thinking. SMU is excelling at this and demonstrating this ability with our student competitors.”

SMU Debate is directed by Dr. Ben Voth. Assistant coaches include Keith Milstead and Ross Sloan. The program is funded and sponsored by Meadows School of the Arts and the SMU Vice President of Student Affairs.